#9. Second Evolution!
#9. Second Evolution!
[Fear of Baemsagol (Unformed Warg) Lv.1] [EXP 111 / 1032]
[Body Length 52.7cm] [Body Height 27.5cm] [Weight 5.4kg]
The first thing that caught my eye was the experience points.
When I was an Amorphous Mucus Body, the experience required to reach Level 1 had been 324. Now that I'd evolved, the requirement was over a thousand.
A thousand now, sure, but the future looked a whole lot darker. Last time I hit Level 20, the EXP requirement was 11,000—and even with the most conservative estimate, Level 20 now would demand over thirty thousand. The stronger I got, the higher the bar climbed.
......More importantly, wasn't evolution supposed to follow what I consumed? Why had I gotten so much smaller?
I was significantly smaller than I'd been as an Amorphous Mucus Body. Hoping I was wrong, I checked my reflection in the water and found an adorable, dainty little...
'...Puppy?'
Yeah. A puppy. A tail swaying gently, looking exceptionally cute. Even I thought it was cute—other people would probably lose their minds. The base was Wolf, so there was a sleekness to it, but the overall look was perfect for being named something like 'Lil' Blacky.'
"Woof! Woof woof woof!"
......I'd assumed my size would track the Warg's. I'd been thoroughly scammed. Still, checking my status made it tolerable.
Before Evolution [STR 66] [AGI 45] [VIT 146] [MP 1]
After Evolution [STR 76] [AGI 81] [VIT 151] [MP 1]
The stats had gone up across the board.
MP stayed the same, but Agility had spiked hard. Every stat was higher than it had been at Level 20 as an Amorphous Mucus Body, and the percentage comparisons that used to be tacked on had vanished.
At the very least, I wouldn't need to worry about weight class among animals anymore. VIT hadn't had a percentage attached even before the evolution.
My weight had dropped, but considering future growth potential, the possibilities were endless. Far more so than before I evolved.
Still, being "Unformed" meant... the stats had risen, so it was definitely an evolution, but it felt less like I'd evolved from an Amorphous Mucus Body and more like I'd simply shapeshifted into a puppy form.
First things first: time to grind levels again.
"Woof! Woof!"
After finishing the status check, I opened the skill window. Some skills had changed since before the evolution.
[Presence Detection (F) Lv.9 proficiency at maximum. Presence Detection (F) Lv.9 → Presence Detection (F) Lv.10]
[Presence Detection (F) Lv.10 has reached the maximum level. Presence Detection (F) Lv.10 → Presence Tracing (E) Lv.1]
[Heat Detection (E) Lv.1 and Presence Tracing (E) Lv.1 simultaneously present]
[Heat Detection (E) Lv.1 and Presence Tracing (E) Lv.1 have merged into Detection (D) Lv.1]
At last, a D-rank skill. Like my previous evolution, this one also granted two additional skills: Swift Foot and Weak Sense of Smell. I had a rough idea what they did without even needing to use Observation.
Since I'd evolved, I ought to run a few tests. Starting with pain response. I gnawed gently at my front paw, but with Physical Damage Reduction in play, I couldn't really tell anything. I steeled myself and bit down hard—no pain. The "Unformed" trait was definitely real.
Next, Swift Foot. The name alone told me exactly what it was, so I broke into a run.
There was a joy to running that rolling didn't have. The wind against me as I sprinted felt exhilarating. I was reasonably fast—faster than expected—though I still looked like a puppy doing it.
On a slope too steep for tires, maybe rolling would still win out, but for now, running felt decent enough. No pain, and running was decent. Now for the last one: smell.
I sniffed the air. A sweet scent. A fishy scent. Something rotting. The smell of earth. Scents I'd never encountered before flooded in all at once, a vortex of chaos. I could smell them, but I couldn't tell any of them apart. The issue wasn't with the nose itself—I just had no idea what anything was. That would come with experience, I supposed.
I deliberately chased the sweet scent and found a beehive hanging from a tree. And beneath it, a bear. Had I been tracking the bear, or the honey? Probably the honey......? Either way, the bear under the hive wasn't fully grown—looked subadult. Maybe even female.
[Asian Black Bear]
[Height 140cm] [Shoulder Height 67cm] [Weight 84kg]
[STR 111] [AGI 51] [VIT 76]
A three-digit Strength stat seemed pretty high, but then I thought back to the hunters I'd seen and it just felt shabby.
I'd already faced a twenty-four-kilo mega-eel and even gone up against a Black Wolf. An ordinary animal didn't feel all that frightening anymore.
Felt strange. Just a few days ago, back in Baemsagol, the sight of a bear passing by had me holding my breath praying I wouldn't piss it off.
Of course, stat-wise, there wasn't all that much of a gap. Better to take it seriously from the start and put it down than drop my guard and eat a hit for no reason.
"Grurr?"
Just as I was about to make the first move, I saw its dopey face and the will to fight drained right out of me. Licking honey made it so blissfully happy it looked like it owned the whole world.......
For a moment, an odd standoff seemed to hold. Then the creature offered me the beehive it had been eating. While I stood there bewildered by the friendly gesture, the bear thrust its arm forward, urging me to eat up.
"......."
I might be a Warg now, but being Unformed meant I had no sense of taste. Still, I'd already lost the will to fight. I just went along with it and ate. The bear clapped its paws, delighted.
"Groooow. Groowwll."
Then it pressed its head against me. I tensed, thinking it wanted to fight, but it stuck out its tongue and licked me. Only after I wiped the drool off my face with a tentacle did the situation click.
'...Wait, does it think I'm its cub?'
The appearance was the thing, I guess. A Warg is a Black Wolf, but right now, I was a pup. At a glance, a bear might mistake me for one of its own.
'Weird feeling.'
In any case, I couldn't bring myself to eat this particular bear. I hurried on my way, hoping it would live a long life.
***
"There we go~ I'll help with your discharge paperwork. Right this way, please?"
Some time later, Lee Eun-ha returned home and collapsed straight onto her bed.
"I definitely saw something at the end......."
She had no idea what it was. That green something that had saved her when she was on the verge of death... what on earth had it been?
The slime she'd seen before briefly surfaced in her mind, but she pushed the thought aside.
There was no way it was that.
***
A wild boar lunged at me. I'd anticipated it—ducked inside and bit down on its nape. The thing's breath cut out so simply that I was the one caught off guard.
...They just can't match me at all.
I was starting to understand why monsters were called monsters.
On an unrelated note, the experience gain was abysmal. Two days of hunting and I'd only managed to climb five levels. The stronger I got, the harder it was to raise levels. Smaller animals like squirrels and mice didn't even give experience anymore when eaten—though I could still convert satiety into EXP.
Because my size had shrunk, satiety filled faster, but compared to the absolute amount of EXP required, the conversion efficiency from Devouring was still poor. And after eating every large animal I came across, I'd only gained five levels.
Lately, people seemed to be coming and going more frequently. Too many presences. Maybe my Detection range had simply expanded. Nine out of ten, it was because there was still one more Warg left.
The news that hunters were going after the monster wolf was both welcome and unsettling. It felt like something was being stolen from me.
Truth was, I'd planned to head toward the city after finishing off the monster wolf. There was nothing left for me in Jirisan. Eventually, even big animals like boars and water deer would stop giving me levels. I intended to leave Jirisan after dealing only with the monster wolf.
That was the plan, but with hunters constantly tramping around, I'd developed a strange feeling about it. At first I'd wanted them to kill the Warg...
'The hell. My mood's flipping like boiling soup.'
Didn't matter anyway. Right now, I didn't have a choice. I still lacked too much to fight the monster wolf. Even if I spent the skill points I had, it would still be a stretch.
At least I could now learn D-rank skills. That alone was a comfort. Even if each one cost four skill points.
The D-rank skills I'd already considered were All Damage Reduction and Hardening. All Damage Reduction spoke for itself, and I'd been using Hardening effectively all along—I could apply it immediately. As my skill levels rose, more candidates would open up, but for now, that was the plan.
The immediate goal was Level 8. By then, I'd have twelve remaining skill points, enough for three D-rank skills. Maybe then I could finally beat that bastard.
Luck was with me—probably thanks to the hunters, the thing hadn't come looking for me. Or maybe it simply wasn't interested anymore... Either way, it had bought me time to grind levels.
Of course, if the hunters caught me, I'd be just as dead as the Warg. I needed to be more careful.
Skills like Observation and Spying weren't unique to me. I could hope they'd assume I was just a bear cub or a wild dog pup and pass me by, but if I was found out, they'd put me down on the spot.
"......."
Which was why I'd been sticking with this bear.
"Grooowwll?"
Honestly, I'd tried to lose it several times, but that bear's nose was so sharp I couldn't shake it. No matter how far I went, it came waddling back the next day. That made two days of this bizarre traveling-companion act.
'Somehow it feels like I'm the one being led around on a leash...'
"Growll?"
After about two days together, I was starting to read its expressions. It was probably asking if I wanted honey...
"Grrowwll?!"
I said I don't want honey!
***
"Came up empty again today, huh."
"Team Leader. At this rate, we'll turn into mountain-foragers."
At the team member's grumbling, the team leader nodded impassively.
"Let's tough it out a little longer."
"Why don't we just request support from Team 2 or Team 1? Or call another clan..."
At the young hunter's words, the older hunter smacked the back of his head.
"You even listening to yourself, you punk? How do you think Teams 1 and 2 would look at us?"
"Why are you hitting me? What do you mean, how would they look at us?"
"Talk like that over something like this, you know what they'll say? 'Those guys are supposed to be a search team and they can't even find one Warg?' Then they'll all be yapping about what the point of us even is."
"But everyone already knows the whole team runs on the Vice-Team Leader anyway......"
"Have you lost your mind?"
He wasn't wrong. Truth was, there was no way to corner a Warg. Driving it day and night wouldn't let them catch it. Even following its trail was a struggle—catching the thing across this vast mountain was a distant hope. Other teams and clans surely knew that, but......
"If we'd just dumped it from the start calling it a hassle, like the Gowon Clan did, that'd be one thing. But if we start the job and then can't finish it? We're the only ones who end up looking like idiots."
Even with that explanation, the young team member's face still said, 'Still, though...' He seemed to understand, at least. The team leader, who had been watching quietly, gave a nod.
"There is a way."
"Team Leader, don't tell me you actually agree with that stupid suggestion?"
"Of course not."
Ignoring the glum mutter of "stupid..." from the young team member, the team leader explained.
"Take a look. This is the Warg's travel route."
"Hm?"
"The bastard hasn't strayed far from Baemsagol and Cheonwangbong Peak. I don't know exactly why... but there has to be a reason."
"Is it looking for something?"
"Hard to say. In any case, if there's a reason it's staying nearby, how about we try the opposite approach this time?"
"The opposite?"
"An ambush. No matter how fast it is, if it comes into range, there's no way we'll miss it."
The team leader faced his team members with a look of trust. The team members felt the pressure of it. And sure enough.
"If we try this and it still doesn't work, there are no more days off."
"......."
"Be ready to risk your lives."
At those hellish words, the team members nodded grimly.